MEGA-Worried about Europe, Daily Brief July 1, 2024

Today, the Hungarian government assumes leadership of the European Union for the next six months, sparking deep concerns among human rights experts.

Until the end of this year, Hungary holds the rotating presidency of the Council of the EU. This doesn’t give Budapest any kind of dictatorial power, of course – the EU and its institutions are far more multi-layered and resilient than that. But it does give Hungary’s government a key role in chairing top-level meetings and setting the agenda for those decisive meetings.

And that’s worrying enough, given the Hungarian government’s wrecking-ball approach to democracy and human rights in Hungary. For 14 years, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and his ruling party, Fidesz, have “systematically centralized power, hollowed out democratic safeguards, and weakened the rule of law.”

Orbán changes the country’s constitution at his whim, declaring several states of emergency that allow him to rule by decree, side-stepping even the now rubber-stamp parliament.

The ruling party does everything it can to silence critics, attacking independent journalists, media outlets, and civil society organizations, including, most recently, anti-corruption watchdog Transparency International and investigative journalism group Átlátszó.

Orbán’s party has taken control of the majority of the country’s media, using it to pump out pro-government and pro-party lies.

They also constantly vilify minority groups – migrants, LGBT people, and others – to stir up hate and create scapegoats to divert people’s attention from their anti-democratic power grab and from the fact that, under Fidesz, Hungary is the most corrupt country in the EU and also the most impoverished.

They spend large amounts of taxpayers’ money on nationwide media campaigns of fearmongering disinformation against these groups – and also against the European Union.

Now, for the next six months, they’re in the driver’s seat of the EU.

Last month, Hungarian officials revealed that the motto for Hungary’s half-year presidency of the Council of the European Union would be the staggeringly unoriginal, “Make Europe Great Again,” or MEGA.

I don’t know which era of European history the Hungarian government is referring to here, but I do know many of us who’ve been following their abuses over the last 14 years are MEGA-worried about what’s to come in the next six months.